Gundam SEED Lelouch of Britannia
by Obsessive Child
Summary: Cosmic Era 72, and the world is divided into four superpowers. Lelouch Vi Britannia is sent to investigate the rumors of the EA's new G-weapons and to find the advantage to finally end the war. ZAFT is on the move, the EA has become corrupt, Orb has buried its head in the sand and Britannia plays at the Black Prince's fingertips. The power of SEED might not be enough.
1. Phase 01: A False Peace

Gundam SEED: Lelouch of Britannia

_Cosmic Era 70, and the world is divided into four superpowers. First there is ZAFT, which is in charge PLANTs and contains most of the world's Coordinator population. Second is Orb, a small but powerful nation which centers around Papa New Guinea, and welcomes both Natural and Coordinator civilians so long as they wish for peace. Also welcoming both Natural and Coordinator citizens is the third power The Holy Empire of Britannia, which is militant and controls Western Europe as well as North America. Last, is the Earth Alliance, which only wishes for Naturals within its ranks and controls the rest of the pure blue world…_

_Following the tragedy of "Bloody Valentine", the tension between the Earth and PLANT immediately developed into serious military engagements. A misplaced bomb has also drawn the otherwise neutral Holy Empire of Britannia into the conflict. Without a doubt, everyone believed in victory of the Earth Alliance and The Holy Empire of Britannia which outnumbered ZAFT. However, the Holy Empire of Britannia stubbornly refuses to ally itself with the Earth Alliance, which creates much unnecessary confusion and is slowly turning the conflict into a three front war. The war has become drawn out, with 11 months having already passed…._

* * *

**Phase 01**

_Revised Plans_

* * *

"Are you sure about this, my lord?"

Lelouch slipped the blueprints of the factory into his back pockets and turned to his knight with an amused smile, "Have I ever acted when I am unsure, Jeremiah?"

Jeremiah Gottwald, Mobile Suit Pilot Extraordinaire, Margrave of Kent, Knight of Lelouch Vi Britannia the eleventh prince of The Holy Empire, blushed. "Of course not, your highness."

"Then you don't need to worry," Lelouch said assuredly, adjusting his cap slightly as he continued his walk down the corridors. "Besides, I trust you to protect me. Oh and, none of that 'your highness' stuff. Remember, I'm just a rich lord here."

They were in some sort of industrial unit, with high ceilings and wide hallways. Getting in had been extraordinarily easily, despite all the security checks they had to go through. But ah, his man was good at what he did.

Jeremiah nodded, looking ashamed. Satisfied with his knight's response, Lelouch turned his attention back to the maze of hallways that spread out before him. That was the good thing about Jeremiah, one didn't have to tell him twice what to do. Next time… well, there would be a no 'next time' where Jeremiah slipped up.

It was actually rare for Jeremiah not to have keyed into the fact that Lelouch couldn't be referred to as a prince here, but then, perhaps it was simply the fact that Jeremiah was so used to being formal.

Not calling Lelouch 'your highness' must have been killing the turquoise haired man inside. Lelouch smiled at that.

They turned another corner, just as was indicated on the set of blueprints Lelouch's spy had got for him.

For once, Lelouch had to congratulate the Federation. Whatever they were doing, it was apparently so secret that even one of Lelouch's best spies couldn't find out. Then again, Lelouch's best spies were hardly The Empire's best spies.

Still, this level of discretion for the Federation was commendable. It had after all, forced Lelouch himself to come to investigate.

And that was why Lelouch was wearing dull brown contact lenses, dressed in civilian clothing, and pretending that his personal knight was just a butler.

Well, he supposed he had it a bit better than Jeremiah.

Lelouch sneaked a glance at his knight, and couldn't help the slight twitching of his lips. Jeremiah didn't look bad exactly, just not himself. Lelouch had practically forced Jeremiah to dye his hair into a dirty blond, saying that aqua-tinted hair would draw too much attention. After all, they didn't want anyone to know that the eleventh prince of Britannia had been here, and it was well known that Lelouch Vi Britannia had a person knight who had green hair.

Just as it was well known that The Black Prince of Britannia who conquered Mexico had shocking violet eyes—the same quality as the Emperor. Thankfully, nothing else was known about him. Nothing appearances-wise anyway.

Father didn't value public image, and Lelouch had long decided that he didn't care much for it either. If he needed to appear on television, then by all means he would, but Lelouch was hardly as much of a glamour seeker as his older brother Clovis.

Besides, the facelessness of The Black Prince to the general public left a small twinge of fear within his enemies' hearts. People feared most what they could not see. Lelouch refused to think that part of his reasoning might be that people wouldn't be all that terrified of a scrawny teenager.

They neared the end of the corridor. Taking a step out of the threshold, Lelouch was greeted with the sight of a large, airy rectangular space. The ground was below, and Lelouch and Jeremiah were standing on the blue tiled platform surrounding the area.

A few workers at their level glanced at the two, confused, but at Lelouch's glare they quickly turned back to their work, a flash of fear in their eyes. Obviously they thought that he was one of the project managers for this or something. Inwardly Lelouch snorted. Oh how easily people were deceived.

"Looks like we're here," Lelouch said softly, stepping forward to the railings and looking down at the expanse below. There six trucks under them. Inside the trucks were mobile suits, grey in colour but obviously a design that had never been seen before.

Hidden violet eyes fluttered closed.

"Clovis," Lelouch murmured, hardly able to believe it, "You betrayed us all…"

Yes, yes he had suspected it. Father had suspected it, Schneizel had suspected it, but Lelouch was the only one available to check if it were true. They had all been hoping that they were wrong. It was stupid really: how often could all three of The Empire's greatest minds be wrong?

And quite suddenly, he felt anger well up within him.

Still… How could he?! How dare he?! After the disaster at Junius Seven, how dare Clovis even consider aiding the Earth Alliance?

But Clovis was like that. Always looking for his own advancement, no matter whose memories he was stepping on. And this time, Clovis was bought with promise of power from the Earth Alliance should he fund their little military project. Clovis knew that Father was unlikely to choose him as successor, so obviously Clovis had decided to take his chances with the Earth Alliance instead. It was such a Clovis thing to do.

Lelouch clenched his fists. Yes, he understood Clovis's reasoning, but that didn't mean he could forgive the third prince. Lelouch pulled out his phone and dialled a number. A second later, alarms resonated throughout the area.

Biohazard Warning.

Oh yes, he loved the art of hacking.

The people on the top panicked, running off to find gas masks. Some workers on the lower levels were a little bit braver, staying loyally beside the army trucks, just in case the alarm was false.

But those people hardly mattered.

Lelouch nodded to Jeremiah, and without a word the knight leaped off the catwalk, landing in a crouch inside one of the trucks. From above, they had perfect access to the new machines, and nobody on the ground floor would notice. People so rarely looked up.

Lelouch climbed onto the railing, and flung himself in Jeremiah's direction. He hardly had the same physical abilities as his knight, but he trusted Jeremiah. Jeremiah didn't disappoint.

The Black Prince of Britannia landed with a slight oomph of compact as Jeremiah caught him, but was overall unharmed, just as he had calculated. Licking his lips, Lelouch lowered himself into the cockpit of the machine, with Jeremiah standing over him on guard.

He started up the system, keeping the door to the cockpit open and knowing that the blaring alarms would cover whatever noises he would make. Surprisingly, the mobile suit didn't make any noises at all.

Words flashed across the screen.

**Model Number**: GAT X106

**Codename**: The Victory

**Head Height**: 17.52 meters

**Max Weight**: 69.32 metric tons

**Power Plant**: Ultracompact Energy Battery

**Armour**: Phase Shift Armour

**Armaments**: 2 x beamsabre, 2 x "Armor Schneider" combat knife, 57mm high-energy beam rifle, XM404 "Grandslam" sword, Shield

"The Victory?" Lelouch arched a brow, feeling contempt rise within him. The Earth Alliance sure had a lot of confidence in these machines. He dug the floppy disk out of his back pockets, and inserted it within the open port. Then, Lelouch started rapidly typing, trying to copy all of the mobile suit's information onto his key.

The information was impressive, and for a brief moment Lelouch couldn't help but applaud Clovis, and then he remembered who Clovis had betrayed.

Euphie.

That couldn't be forgiven.

Lelouch started typing faster. He didn't take long to finish. The security for such a high class machine was actually ridiculously low, and Lelouch got past it within minutes. Really, what were these Earth Alliance people thinking?

However, there was quite a lot of information, and Lelouch estimated that it would take about 10 minutes to finish downloading. He climbed out of the cockpit, knowing he had to inform Jeremiah, when suddenly an explosion rocked the colony, sending Lelouch wheeling forwards.

Jeremiah caught him.

Lelouch furrowed his brows, pushing himself off Jeremiah and brushing off his coat. He looked up, wondering what in the world had caused that.

Experimentation? No, impossible, the citizens of Heliopolis would suspect something was wrong if earthquakes suddenly started happening in space. Was it perhaps a malfunction in the PLANT system? Well, it was plausible expect for the fact that if the EA was secretly building machines in Heliopolis, they would make certain that the PLANT wouldn't malfunction. Even the EA wasn't that incompetent. Or perhaps, it was—

Lelouch gasped as the thought struck him. No, impossible. Lelouch looked back down at the cockpit, searching frantically for the status bar of the download. Not even half. Lelouch let out a deep breath. Well, shit.

"Should we be worried, my lord?" Jeremiah asked, remembering to keep his voice low.

"ZAFT's attacking," Lelouch snapped, turning back to his knight and staring him straight in the eyes, "and our download is far from being complete. Chances are that ZAFT has also heard about these new mobile suits and—"

A deafening boom cut him off, and a second later Lelouch was knocked to the ground, Jeremiah hovering protectively over him.

"Bombs," Jeremiah hissed, looking towards the sky, "They have—"

Another boom, this time much closer. The sky lit with a brilliant white. Lelouch gritted his teeth, rolling into the cockpit of the Victory and tugging Jeremiah after him. Lelouch couldn't overpower the knight, but he knew that Jeremiah would understand his instructions and follow. Confused but trusting, Jeremiah hopped in.

Lelouch's fingers danced across the keyboard. Slowly, the hatch closed over them. Lelouch glanced at the download status bar, but continued typing, and as if just waiting for the right nourishment, the cockpit flared to life.

Take the calibrations and reset the zero moment point and CPG. Then connect the control module directly to the molecular ion pump, Reconstruct the neural linkage network. Renew meta-active field…

Honestly, this OS was horrible. As amazing as the machine's capacities were, how in the world did the EA hope to use them with this kind of operating system?

"…your highness?"

"ZAFT's attacking this factory," Lelouch replied calmly as he continued typing. "The best chance we have to escape this alive is to be inside this machine. It has something called the phase shift armour, which I've activated as soon as the hatch closed over us. It can apparently, withstand bomb attacks."

Lelouch took a deep breath as he finished adjusting the OS, moving off the pilot seat and motioning for Jeremiah to take his place. At the knight's questioning look, Lelouch expanded, "We cannot simply just wait here like sitting ducks. The EA will probably panic at ZAFT's attack and try to retrieve the mobile suits before ZAFT can, so either way one side will be coming for the one we are in. Our best option is to therefore, evacuate with this mobile suit and get out as soon as we're in an area that's relatively safe."

Jeremiah nodded, and climbed onto the pilot seat.

"Adjust the OS as you see fit, as I'm no expert on machinery my calibrations may be a bit off."

"No my lord," Jeremiah said reverently, "it's perfect. Even Coordinators such as myself would have a hard time making an OS like this, and this quickly too."

Lelouch smiled despite himself, pleased at the praise. Jeremiah was forever loyal, but he only gave congratulation when it was well earned. "Walk slowly. We don't want to attract attention."

The Victory slowly rose from its straps, looking like a demon in the midst of explosions. Instantly, someone tried to contact them through a coded channel.

"Open it," Lelouch commanded as they began walking, "But only allow the voice to be transmitted."

Jeremiah nodded, typing in a series of commands.

The radio buzzed, and a second later a young, impatient voice broke through, "Nick? Are you done yet?"

Lelouch blinked, and then motioned for Jeremiah to remain quiet. He adjusted his voice, so that it was crackly and sounded as if he had just received a deep wound. That way, their communicator would think that any differences in voice were due to injury.

"Almost," Lelouch croaked out, wincing a little at the strain on his throat.

"Good," The voice breathed a sigh of relief, "Wait a minute, are you injured?"

"A little, but I'm good enough to pilot." Something seemed to have risen in the distance, in the area he and Jeremiah had just recently left. The last mobile suit perhaps?

"Those bastard Earth Alliance people—"

Ah, so this was ZAFT, then.

"—don't worry Nick, we'll make them pay!"

That last G-weapon was staggering, moving about clumsily. Obviously, it was being piloted by a Natural, and not one of Lelouch's calibre either. So, the EA had managed to salvage at least one of their machines… not that it would do them any good. "Don't worry, I think they're paying enough."

"Tch," The voice sounded annoyed, "You're too soft Nick. How are Athrun and Rusty? Have they gotten the other two mobile suits?"

They started walking. Burning buildings passed by them, civilians running about looking stricken because they couldn't find a shelter in time. "Not yet, what about on your side?"

"Dearka, Nicol, CC and I have all got ours. We'll wait for you three back in the ship."

"That's fine, we'll meet you there."

The less soldiers on Heliopolis to stop Lelouch's and Jeremiah's escape, the better. Although Lelouch loathed the fact that he was essentially allowing ZAFT to escape with valuable technology, there was little he could do about it. He and Jeremiah were only two people after all, and despite their skills they could not match a whole battalion.

Unless… unless he took command of the EA forces on Heliopolis and showed them the way to victory…

No!

He wouldn't, he couldn't, not even if it meant surrendering the mobile suits to ZAFT. It would make him no better than Clovis. Besides, ZAFT having the mobile suits wasn't that bad. It only kept the balance of power, since now all three of the warring superpowers would have the same technology.

"My lord."

Jeremiah's voice broke Lelouch from his thoughts.

"We have a problem."

A problem? Lelouch scanned the outside, wondering what in the world Jeremiah could have considered a problem. It only took him an instant to recognize the landscape. It was where their spacecraft had landed, and now that they were here, they could leave. And then, Lelouch felt his eyes widen as they landed on what Jeremiah had obviously seen.

The spacecraft was gone.

Well no, it was still there, but half of the metal was gone, bent in odd shapes with the edges red with heat. A bomb had hit it, and now it could no longer be used.

Lelouch took a deep breath for the third time that day, forcing himself not to rage and instead think of a logical solution out of the problem. It was hard. It was just… nothing was going right for them today. Did he anger Murphy somehow by drinking orange juice this morning?!

Lelouch closed his eyes, "Alright Jeremiah, we'll just…"

Just what? They could hardly go to a shelter; chances are there were none left. And besides, it was hardly as if shelters for civilians were safe. Lelouch had learned that in the Battle of Mexico. And going to ZAFT? Completely out of the question. ZAFT would at best use Lelouch as a political hostage, at worst just kill them on the spot when they realized Jeremiah wasn't whoever this 'Nick' was. As for contacting the Earth Alliance…

It left a bitter taste in Lelouch's mouth. Besides, it looked as if the EA could hardly help themselves, and were going to be killed anyway.

And then suddenly, a miracle happened.

The new mobile suit that Lelouch had previously assumed belonged to a Natural lashed out, going through a serious of complex manoeuvres that only the rookies of the military could do. The GINN fighting it was slowly being beaten back. It was as if suddenly the new mobile suit had become possessed.

"My lord?"

"We'll wait," Lelouch murmured, a plan already forming in his mind. Yes, yes this could work, and it would all depend on what that pilot would do. "Let's wait and see if it's worth our while to stick around."

* * *

Kira stumbled off of the Gundam, shaken. His friends instantly rushed to his side, worried questions and exclamations of amazement on the edges of their tongues.

He could not believe that just seconds before, he had been fighting a mobile suit of all things, and he had won. It wasn't supposed to be like this. It had just been a regular day in Heliopolis when suddenly the sky was aflame with bombs and he was out of a shelter. He thought he saw Athrun too, which was the weirdest thing, and then even odder was the woman who he had met and then had to help so that they would both survive. Well, he had done it. They had both survived.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Kira muttered, more to reassure his friends then anything else. He looked up towards the cockpit of the deadly machine he had been piloting just moments before, thinking of the lady he had left there, "By the way, there's a woman up there, unconscious. Does anyone want to…?"

Tolle and Kuzzey were away before he could finish the sentence, climbing the Gundam in their excitement to get to the mysterious military woman.

Kira sighed.

Miriallia giggled, patting Kira's back, "Don't worry about it, you know them. They're like children, but they'll do the right thing."

Kira could only smile tiredly, shaking his head. He opened his mouth to reply to Miriallia's comment, when something caught his eye.

It was one of the Gundams, the one that hadn't moved the entire time during Kira's battle with the other mobile suit. That Gundam hadn't even gone to join ZAFT. Kira had thought that it was perhaps an EA soldier piloting it, except that the movements it did make were too smooth, clearly marking the pilot to be a Coordinator.

Now, the cockpit to the Gundam was opening, its light orange armour dissolving back into a dull grey to conserve energy. Two people came out of the Gundam, and even with his enhanced Coordinator abilities Kira couldn't clearly make out their features.

Slowly, the pair started walking towards him.

"Kira? Kira what are you looking a—" Miriallia trailed off, her eyes growing wide as she turned her head to follow Kira's gaze. A light blush dusted her cheeks.

Now, the pair had finally walked close enough for Kira to discern their features. One was a tall man, in his thirties if Kira guessed correctly, with dirty blond hair and sharp blue eyes. There was something in the man's step that reminded Kira of... who?

On the man's side was a boy, probably the same age as Kira himself. Kira instantly knew that this was who Miriallia had blushed for. Although Kira was by no means a 'handsome, smexy, boy-toy' expert (and he had no wish to be), even he could see that the man's companion was someone used to charming the ladies.

The boy had pitch black hair, and noble features, all aristocratic without a hint of blemish. His posture, the way he moved, spoke of wealth and confidence, while his lithe features spoke of grace. Lastly, now that he was close enough, Kira could see that in the other boy's dark brown eyes there was that hint of… something. Something that spoke of danger.

"Hey Kira," Kuzzy's voice called out from a distance, "we've got her down! Mind giving us a little help here?"

Kira turned, his attention momentarily take away from the strange pair and resting on Kuzzy and Tolle, who were staggering under the weight of the officer. Kira sighed, and ran towards them, stopping his analysis of the two people. After all, they didn't _really_ matter, did they?

If they were with the EA, then they could help this female officer, and if they were with ZAFT they would have already left. Perhaps they were just civilians like Kira was and had simply gotten into the strange machines to avoid the crossfire. It certainly looked like that was what they were doing.

Kira placed his hands underneath the woman's middle as soon as he got to his friends, with Tolle carrying her head and Kuzzy her legs. "Alright guys, let's put her on that bench over there."

Tolle and Kuzzy nodded their agreement, and together the three of them slowly moved over to the canopied place where the bench was situated. When they got there, Kira noticed that the two strangers had also made it.

Kira gently set the woman down, and then turned to the strangers with a glare, "Who are you?"

"Kira," Miriallia admonished, "Don't be so rude."

"It's fine," the dark haired boy smiled, nodding towards Kira, "he's right to be suspicious. After all, we just got attacked didn't we?"

"But still," Miriallia frowned, "Kira's not usually this. He's—"

"Miri." Kira said sternly, effectively shutting her up. He knew he had never been so harsh before, but this was different. His friends had never been so blatantly threatened before. "May you please tell us who you two are?"

"But of course." The boy smiled a dazzling smile, which made Kira instantly distrust it. He didn't know why, but something about the boy just seemed… fake. Though, if Tolle's responding smile was any indication, none of Kira's friends sensed it. "I'm Lelouch Lamperouge, and my companion… is Orenji Nu."

Kira saw the man's finger twitch ever so slightly, but his face remained impassive. The man simply bowed, "Pleased to meet you."

Everyone gave their introductions, and even Kira consented in the end. After all, there was no real reason not to trust them right? It was just that there was a tingling in the back of Kira's mind that just wouldn't leave him alone, but it made no sense even to him. The pair did seem nice enough. Besides, if Kira could trust an apparent EA soldier, why couldn't he trust two civilians?

"By the way," Lamperouge said as soon as they were done with introductions, his eyes straying to the kneeling Gundam. "Did you pilot that thing? We saw the battle and I admit we were suitably impressed."

Kira tensed again; so, was this what the pair was after?

Lamperouge seemed to notice Kira's stiffness, and smiled apologetically, "Oh well it doesn't really matter whether you piloted it or not, I was just curious. And I want to see if this machine's the same as the one we were in."

Oh right, they were also in a Gundam. Really, why in the world was Kira being so wary? It was unlike him.

Kira let out a small breath, trying to regain his calm. He nodded, managing a small, sincere smile, "Yes, I am the pilot, though not by choice. It's not my machine, so I don't really have any authority over it. Are they yours?"

"No," Lamperouge shook his head, "But I have a small fascination with technology. Do you think… um… this woman will mind if I take a look at it?"

"Who cares?!" Tolle grinned from ear to ear, "Kira's the one who saved her anyways, there's no way she'll complain! I also want to look at it!"

"Me first," Lamperouge said mischievously, running off to the blue and white Gundam.

Tolle blew out his cheeks, and snatched Kuzzy by the wrist, dragging the black haired boy with him after Lelouch. Sai sighed, following the three boys and muttering something about keeping them out of trouble.

In what seemed like an instant, only Kira, Miriallia, Nu, and the mysterious woman were left under the canopy.

"Amazing." Nu muttered as Lelouch climbed into the cockpit of Gundam, the hatch closing over him. Tolle banged on the door, locked out, shouting about how unfair it was that Lelouch would have all the fun.

"What's amazing?" Miriallia asked curiously.

"That he could…" Nu sighed, "My lord was never very athletic, and it's quite amazing that he has beaten your friends to the Gundam. I suppose his head start was just too great."

Kira blinked, catching the odd reference, "My lord?"

"What? I mean—"

Just then, the woman let out a loud groan, throwing a hand over her forehead and wincing in pain.

Kira was instantly on his knees, looking over the wounded woman to make sure she was alright, "Oh, you'd better stay still for now."

She just stared at him, making Kira slightly unnerved.

"I apologize," Kira finally murmured, thinking he understood what exactly the woman might have been upset about. His raw movements with the hulking machine couldn't have been gentle for the one in the back seat. Proof was that she was knocked unconscious. "I got kinda carried away in there. Care for some water?"

She nodded, thankfully looking away, "Thank you."

He helped her up, and she greedily drunk in the water that Miriallia held out for her.

"Man Lelouch, are you done yet? I want a chance to play too!" Tolle's loud voice brought them out of their revere. It was then that the woman seemed to notice the Gundam, and the closed hatch.

She slammed the cup down, her eyes demanding, "Who's in there?!"

"Just a civilian," Kira responded unsurely. "It's fine, he's just interested in—"

The woman didn't seem to care about what he was going to say however. She slid her legs over the side of the bench raised her gun, firing three consecutive shots, all aimed towards the hatch.

_Bang. Bang. Bang_.

Kira saw Nu tense, the man's hand twitching towards his belt, possibly to use as a weapon of defence? Kira felt tense too. There was a moment's pause, and then the hatch slowly opened.

The colour bled out of the Gundam, turning it back to grey, and Kira assumed that the machine had just ran out of power. Lamperouge sat in the cockpit, looking warily at the woman with the gun.

"Stay away from that machine!" The wounded women —no, correct that— the _dangerous_ woman yelled, standing up and walking towards the Gundam, gun still raised.

"What do you think you're doing?" Kira protested, getting up and running after her. Really, this was too much. He had thought that she was a reasonable person. "Please stop it! Those are the guys who carried you out while you were unconscious!"

Suddenly, she turned her gun on Kira. "I'm grateful that you saved me, but that thing is a top military secret! It's not something civilians should be allowed to touch thoughtlessly!"

"Give me a break!" Sai snorted as he, Kuzzy, Tolle and Lamperouge descended from the Gundam, and walked back towards them. "It was Kira piloting it a moment ago."

She turned her gun on his friends again, gesturing towards Kira, "All of you, this way."

Tolle put up his hands in surrender, but Sai didn't look too pleased. Nonetheless, they followed her instructions. Surprisingly, Lamperouge didn't look at all disgruntled, and in fact he looked a little pleased with himself, but Kira was feeling too agitated to really think about it.

As soon as they gathered into a large group, the military personnel started walking around them, never lowering her gun, "All of you, your names. One at a time."

They all introduced themselves, or rather, stated their names. When it was Kira's turn though, he couldn't bring himself to respond. The woman narrowed her eyes.

"Kira Yamato." Kira finally said, if not a bit defiantly.

"I'm Murrue Ramius." She introduced, looking slightly apologetic. "I'm an officer with the Earth Alliance Forces. I hate to say this, but I cannot allow you to leave."

She explained her reasons, and Kira's friends didn't take it well. Heck, Kira didn't take it well. Yeah, he agreed with Tolle and Sai, it was all the Earth Alliance's fault. His parents had come here to get away from the discrimination! How could the officer demand for them to help her? Kira's friends descended into protests, and Kira could help but agree with them.

_Bang_.

Kira startled, brought out of his thoughts.

Ramius was standing with a gun in the air, having fired a shot to get their attention, but as soon as she saw that she had it she lowered the gun again, "Quiet! You kids don't understand anything! By declaring that you're neutral and have nothing to do with this, you can still distance yourself from what's happening! You don't really believe that, do you? The Earth Forces' most vital secret was here, and you people saw it. That is the reality that you people face right now."

"It couldn't be helped," Lamperouge muttered, so low that Kira was sure that if he weren't a Coordinator he wouldn't have heard it, "How do you expect nobody in Heliopolis to not see your inventions when you so deliberately put it here and guard your information so inadequately?"

Kira couldn't help but silently agree, though he knew he had to keep quiet about it. No matter what he felt towards Lamperouge, he didn't exactly want the black haired boy to get into serious trouble— especially not getting shot for his comment.

"That's kinda being rough right now." Sai replied to Ramius's comment, his shoulders slumping.

"It may well be pretty rough, but we're in the midst of a war here. Between the PLANTs and Earth. Between Coordinators and Naturals. Outside of the world you live in."

Lamperouge's lips thinned, and this time his voice was loud enough for everyone to hear, "Isn't this war so stupid? PLANTs and Earth? Coordinator and Natural? What's the difference? There will be idiotic Coordinators, and brilliant Naturals, as shown by the way this war is progressing. Isn't it better not to differentiate between them, as we've been doing in Heliopolis? Suddenly seeing a difference—well isn't that just discrimination?"

Ramius narrowed her eyes, "Yes, if the whole world thought that way it'd be nice, but unfortunately it doesn't. You are an enlightened being, but the rest of us mortals have to fight to survive. Maybe what you're talking about is ideal, but we're not living in the ideal. You must realize that!"

Lamperouge clenched his fists, looking frustrated, "But why can't it be the ideal? If you keep on having war, then obviously nothing will change!"

"Kid…"

"He's right you know," Kira said quietly, causing everyone to turn to him in surprise, "What you say may be correct, that there is a war going on outside of our world. But we don't agree with it. We dislike war. That is why we chose to be here in a neutral territory. Yet you…"

"Stop this!" Ramius said sternly, waving her gun to belly her words, "This is a pointless argument. The fact is, you're stuck in this war now, and there's no way to change it. Now Kira, I would like for you to do something for me."

Kira listened to Ramius's request carefully. Well, truthfully it wasn't a request, but Kira thought that the only way he wouldn't go crazy was to think of it as one. She wanted him to contact her ship members, get transport here. Apparently all the radio technology was busted and they had to use the Gundam. Well… okay.

Maybe her ship members would agree that Heliopolis civilians had nothing to do with war, and let them go. It was that, or getting shot.

Kira climbed onto the Gundam again, sending out distress signals. Still, no matter how many times Kira called, nobody responded. He couldn't help but get the sinking feeling that everybody was dead.

"Hey by the way," Sai questioned after he drove a truck from the area Ramius had ordered him to, stopping at Kira and the Gundam's feet, "is this the right one?"

Ramius narrowed her eyes, and then gave a slight nod of satisfaction. She then turned to something in the distance, squinting, "Is that… The Victory?"

"Do you mean the machine?" Lamperouge asked from where he sat, still under the canopied bench, "Orenji and I were in that to avoid the bombs. We've moved it a little."

"What is it with kids and being able to manoeuvre crazily complex machines?" Ramius muttered, and then turned on Lamperouge with the full force of her glare, "Get it and bring it here. It's too far."

Lamperouge narrowed his eyes, then slowly got up from his seat. Back stiff, he started walking towards the other Gundam. Nu jogged after him.

"Hey hold on! I didn't say you could go with him!"

Nu turned to Ramius with a look of animalistic craze, "I don't care what you say, I will always follow my lord."

"Wha..?"

"Orenji," Lamperouge sighed, "it's fine. I'm sorry Miss Ramius, he's been my butler ever since I was six, and sometimes he takes his job a little too seriously."

With a little bow of apology, Lamperouge left for the Gundam, leaving Nu behind. Nu did not follow, but Kira's noticed the slight twitching of the hands ever few seconds, and the way Nu's eyes trailed Lamperouge looking for any possible dangers. Now, Kira finally knew whom he thought Nu resembled when the brown haired boy first laid eyes on the man. Murrue Ramius.

"I respect you as a soldier," Nu said quietly as he walked past Ramius, so quietly that Kira was sure Ramius was the only one who was supposed to hear, "but if you separate me from my master again, I will make you pay."

Ramius stiffened, but didn't comment. Instead, she turned to Kira, barking instructions to mount the Strike Gundam with the equipment from the truck Sai brought in. With a sigh, Kira started moving the Gundam, making sure to keep up with Ramius's instructions down to a tee.

"Which one is the power pack?" He asked, climbing out of the cockpit to ask. By this time, he realized that Lamperouge was back, sitting calmly beside his butler. They were still in the canopied area with the EA woman.

"One's power, one's weapons, so put them both on, and hurry up!" Ramius called back, before turning back to the aristocratic boy, her voice too quiet to catch. Lamperouge sighed good naturedly before getting up and walking back towards The Victory, waving a hand to Nu to get the man to back off. Nu bowed and sat back on the bench.

Suddenly Ramius turned a glare towards him that was probably hot enough to melt even this new phase shift armour thing. Gulping, Kira quickly moved back to the cockpit, deciding that maybe he had better get started on it. He'd just about finished, when suddenly, the sky shattered.

A section in the long aerial pipe that allowed spacecraft passage exploded outwards, sending flames and shrapnel raining down on the unfortunates below.

Nu swore, bolting after the direction Lamperouge had been walking. The Victory's distance wasn't far, and but it was most likely out of batteries too. Kira typed faster, trying to load the equipment sooner; he had to help them!

Suddenly another mobile suit was there, attacking their rag-tag team, dropping discharges and opening fire. Kira gritted his teeth; no, not now! The Strike wasn't ready yet, and Kira was powerless without it. But, but he had to help Lamperouge, even if he was wary of the boy, because no one deserved to die! Plus… plus he had to save his friends. He had to!

And then a fighter jet came out of nowhere it seemed, attacking the invading mobile suit. Still, it was small and lacked sophisticated weaponry. It didn't look like it could win.

And suddenly another, huge aircraft flew out of an explosion, reflecting the light like an angel.

The mobile suit instantly changed its target of attack. Raining bullets on the huge ship, it manoeuvred like a fly against a lion, which although smaller, wasn't something a lion could get rid of. It did fly past Kira once, shooting at his friends, which forced Kira to go down on one knee and defend, but that was all. The engagement with the new ship was much heavier.

As another set of missiles shot off, destroying yet another support for the colony, Kira found himself getting increasingly frustrated. They were tearing up Heliopolis with their attacks, and with every passing minute there was more of a chance that one of his friends would be hurt.

"Damn it," he muttered angrily, narrowing his eyes at the mobile suit, "hold it right there."

The guy wasn't going to get away with this. Using the newest weapon at his disposal, Kira switched the target system online, hardly noticing as a huge lump of machinery shifted over his right eye, allowing him to mark his enemy. Hefting the newly installed cannon, he took aim. The mobile suit moved fast, but Kira was faster. Catching it in a moment, he pressed down on the trigger.

Ramius's voice cried out among the mass, "Wait, Kira, that's…!"

The mobile suit careened to the side, barely dodging the beam of light that cleaved through Kira's rifle. The sky warped where the beam touched, and ripped asunder. A huge hole tore through Heliopolis.

Kira felt his heart skip a beat. The attacking mobile suit was sucked through, and even if it wasn't, the missing arm that it now had was not going to let it do much damage. But Kira wasn't feeling the least bit happy.

He felt the arm that held the rifle drop. Had he just done that to Heliopolis…?

The vacuum of air created by the hole he created sucked everything through, satellites included. There could have been people in there… He could have killed; him, a civilian who hated war. But, he could have taken a life, no, more than one probably. And then, he would have destroyed the lives of the family members, making… making…

He shook his head, letting out a deep breath. No, he couldn't afford to think like that; he'd go crazy. He took a deep breath, and decided that he had to check to see if his friends were alright.

Ramius was barking orders at him again, telling him to dock in the archangel. Still not completely recovered, Kira followed in a daze, hardly even seeing what he was doing. When he was finally done, he took a deep breath, typing shaky instructions over the keypad before the door latch drew open. He sat there for only a moment, before creeping out and descending from his Gundam.

There was a new crowd of strangers there.

"Come on," one of the newcomers was saying, his face a picture of confusion, "what's going on here? He's only a kid. You mean that child piloted that thing?"

Kira's feet touched the ground, and his friends ran over to him, their babble filling his ears. Relief filled him. Still, he kept one ear open to listen to what the adults were discussing, and he saw that Lamperouge was doing the same.

"Lieutenant Ramius, what's going on?" The woman standing in front of Ramius asked.

"Wow, what a surprise." A new voice. Footsteps. "I'm Lieutenant Mu La Flaga of the Seventh Orbital Fleet. Nice to meet you."

"Kira, Kira!" Tolle was grinning from ear to ear, "You were awesome!"

"I'm Lieutenant Murrue Ramius of Sector Two, Fifth Special Division."

"Ensign Natarle Badgiruel, of the same division."

"I'd like authorization to board this ship. Who's in charge here?"

"Thanks," Kira replied automatically, not really listening to his friend's praise.

"The captain and the top officers of this ship have all perished in battle." Badgiruel's voice sounded solemn, wistful. "Therefore, I believe Lieutenant Ramius is now in the position of responsibility. Only a dozen or so of us were saved, mostly non-commissioned officers. Fortunately, being in the shaft, I was able to escape danger."

"A lieutenant left in charge?" Lamperouge muttered, his voice again, too soft for anyone but a Coordinator to hear.

"The captain?" Ramius asked in shock, "How could that be?"

"Oh man," La Flaga muttered, "what a disaster. In any case, please give me permission, Lieutenant Ramius. The ship that I came in has been shot down."

There were more ships outside Heliopolis? Kira felt his fists clench. Just how 'neutral' was their colony really? His friends had finally stopped talking, seeming to pick up on the fact that something serious was happening. They all turned their attention on the military crew.

"Ah, sure," quite frankly Ramius sounded a bit dazed, "I grant you permission."

"And who's that?" La Flaga's attention finally turned to them. Kira met La Flaga's gaze back defiantly.

"As you can see," Ramius answered politely, "he's a civilian teenager. For some reason, he was in the factory district while we were under attack. I let him on the G-weapon. His name is Kira Yamato. Th-thanks to him, we were able to fight off a GINN, and protect this one machine."

GINN? Kira guessed that it was the mobile suit that he had been fighting.

"I came here as an escort to the young pilots trained to pilot that. Where are they?" La Flaga asked.

"We were bombed when they were in the control booth being welcomed by the captain," Badgiruel replied, "So they too…"

"I see…" La Flaga suddenly started walking towards them, leading the rest of the newcomers with him.

"Wh-what is it?" Kira asked, wary.

"You're a Coordinator, aren't you?"

There was a long moment of silence. After all, how did one respond to that? It was apparently a war between Coordinators and Naturals. In the end though, Kira decided honesty was the best policy. "Yes."

Instantly, most of the newcomers dug out guns, pointing it towards him.

Lamperouge was there in a second, a little in front of Kira as if to shield him from gunfire and glares of hate. Kira couldn't see Lamperouge's face, but he did hear the calm, disappointed voice, "Are you really going to kill a civilian who's declared himself neutral, just because of his race? If so, then the Earth Alliance is more hopeless than I thought."

"Yeah!" Tolle agreed, also jumping in front of Kira, "Kira might be a Coordinator, but he's not the enemy! Didn't you see what went on earlier? You've gotta be outta your mind!"

Ramius sighed, walking towards the gunmen, "Lower your rifles!"

They did so with only a trace amount of hesitation, and perhaps a little bit of guilt. Kira was hardly paying attention.

Why? Why had Lelouch jumped in front of him? Sure, Tolle Kira could sort of understand, but Lelouch barely even knew him! Was the black haired boy simply willing to go that far for his principals, even if it meant risking his own life?

It made no sense.

"…come here to avoid being involved in the war. Am I wrong, Kira?"

Huh? What? Kira turned to Ramius, who had just spoken. He tried to recall what she was talking about while he had spaced out, and slowly the half caught words caught up with him. "No, you're right. Especially with me being a first generation Coordinator."

"First generation?" Somebody asked.

La Flaga sighed, "Meaning your parents are Naturals. Well, I apologize for causing such a stir. I was just curious, nothing more."

"Lieutenant La Flaga…"

"On my way here, I've observed a fair number of simulations involving the guys who are expected to pilot this but none of them could do much more than get it to move." The blond shook his head, walking off, "Man oh man."

"Lieutenant!" Badriguel shouted, "Where to?"

"Where to?" La Flaga turned his head, "I landed after being shot down, and the team waiting outside is Le Creuset's. He's one persistent fellow. If you ask me, I don't think we can afford to spend too much time here."

* * *

"It always seems to amaze me my lord, how easily you can make strangers into friends."

They were sitting in a room within the Archangel, the door closed so that no one could hear their conversation. Lelouch had hacked into the security cameras already, making the film of their room into a loop so that no one would suspect anything.

"They're hardly _my_ friends," Lelouch spun in his chair, turning to face Jeremiah with one elbow leaning against his armrest, "They're the friends of the façade I carefully choose, an idealistic rich school boy who is easy to get along with. Very few people would dislike such a persona."

Jeremiah's lips twitched, an odd twinkle in his eyes.

Lelouch's face descended into a scowl. He knew what Jeremiah thought. The knight had wild delusions that the 'facades' that Lelouch showed were only a way of expressing a suppressed childlike side that Lelouch could rarely show. The cunning and harsh image Lelouch presented to the world were only half of Lelouch, and there was another, gentler, kinder, more playful side to him. It was, as Jeremiah once had said, what Lelouch would be like had he not been born a prince of Britannia.

Which was ridiculous.

Jeremiah's lips were practically having a spasm now.

"What is it?"

"It's just that…" Jeremiah looked like he was trying hard to keep down a smile, and failing miserably, "for people you don't consider friends, you've been awfully honest. I know for a fact that most of the opinions you expressed are actually how you really feel towards the situation."

Lelouch stiffened; how had he known that Jeremiah would bring that up? "It was needed. If my own view matched with my persona's, so much the better. Less chance of slipping up—though I would never slip up."

Jeremiah looked amused, but he had worked with Lelouch long enough to know when to quit, "My lord, if I may ask… why Orenji?"

A smirk made its way up the prince's lips. Ha, revenge. "Why, don't like being called 'Orange'? I thought it was your favourite fruit."

"Well it is but still—!" Jeremiah spluttered, "To be named after…? I honestly can't believe the EA bought it."

"The more unbelievable a name, the more real it seems. Names that are too common draw suspicion far more often than unique names. Thankfully, so many people now know me as The Black Prince that they don't actually know what my real name is, but for you the name of Jeremiah Gottwald is too well known. If there were a Lelouch with a Jeremiah for a guardian, it would take an idiot not to draw the right conclusion."

"Ah…" Jeremiah looked a bit dazed.

Lelouch decided to take pity on his poor knight. Oftentimes, Jeremiah had to put up with learning things he never wanted to know, and where almost every knight never really learned political intricacies, Lelouch liked for the people surrounding him to know what was going on. So much the better for developing strategies when someone was there to provide criticism—not that Lelouch ever got criticized anyway. But, who knew? Maybe one day it would save his life.

"The Coordinator's a problem," Lelouch continued, resting his cheek on his knuckles as he waited for Jeremiah to realize that they were on the next topic, "I don't understand why he's so hard to fool, but I think that my 'whispered' words to you, and my quick defence of him might have him second guessing the Earth Alliance. With luck, he'll join our side."

"Do you really think so my lord?" Jeremiah furrowed his brows, his voice thoughtful. "He doesn't seem the type to want to fight. Getting him to abandon the EA is a given, but for him to join Britannia…?"

"He will," Lelouch assured, crossing one leg over the other and turning his gaze to the chessboard set up on his table, "The EA will mess up sooner or later, marking them as something that needs to be fought against in Kira's mind. We couldn't have gotten a better chance. Did you hear what those soldier were talking about so blatantly in front of us? Although… I suppose that they couldn't have known that we would understand it. Still, talking about sensitive information in front of civilians is against protocol, and the rule was made up exactly for situations like this! When we get back to Britannia, I'm going to have to make sure my soldiers—"

"My lord!" Jeremiah coughed, urging Lelouch to go on.

"Yes well," Lelouch smiled like a canary, not even pretending to look abashed, "This is better than I could have hoped for. The highest ranking officer aboard this ship is a lieutenant, who should be easily manipulated and fooled. I'm sure I can plant something which makes the EA look like the worst force in the world, and deserves to be eradicated. Since Yamato will have already dirtied his hands by then, the only option left to him will be to join us."

"And what about ZAFT? Isn't the boy more likely to join them because he's a Coordinator?"

"Unlikely. He's First Generation remember? Besides, ZAFT attacking a neutral state is hardly going to paint them in a favourable light. And even if he does join ZAFT, it scarcely matters to us. Britannia after all, still has its Knights of the Rounds, who'll be only more formidable with the data we've collected."

Ah-ha, and what an amazing amount of data that was. Inside Lelouch's most inner pocket, held a disk with the world's most advanced technology. Both the Victory's and the Strike's, which Lelouch had downloaded during the time he was in the cockpit. But, so much the better would their information be if they could actually bring in the suits themselves! Suddenly, Lelouch couldn't refrain from smiling.

Lelouch leaned back in his seat, letting out a contented sigh, "Why, isn't this lovely Jeremiah?"

"My lord?"

Oh dear, Jeremiah looked confused. The poor knight was an excellent bodyguard, but he simply couldn't see the political implications of everything that had occurred, despite spending so much time around The Black Prince.

Lelouch tsked, picking up the a white knight from his chess set, brandishing it in front of Jeremiah like a sword, "We are aboard an enemy vessel, and nobody even suspects who we truly are. We have much opportunity to spy on and sabotage our enemies, plus…

"Plus it turns out that the EA do not have any access to the information gathered on Heliopolis. So, the only way for them to start mass constructing these 'G-weapons' is if they first analyze The Strike and The Victory. But, what if they never get to see the two G-weapons they have left?

"We'll stay with Archangel until it gets back to Earth, and then we can easily take the two G-weapons back to Britannia. Why Jeremiah, we can steal some pretty little toys for ourselves, and seriously set back the EA, all in one fell swoop!"


	2. Phase 02: Collapsing Land

**Phase 02**

_Collapsing Land_

* * *

_Knock. Knock._

Lelouch sipped his tea, glancing towards the door, "Come in."

They were still in Lelouch's room, which had two bunk beds and a nicely sized table. It wasn't the most pleasant of arrangements, but it would do. Lelouch had scrounged the place for a chess set and a laptop, earning some mixed looks from the remainder of the ship's crew as they were the belongings of the dead. But, ah, Lelouch thought he had managed to argue the point that it was the living that needed things now, and maybe earn some of the soldiers' respect.

They hadn't locked the door, because it would make people suspect that they had something to hide. If he and Jeremiah were in the middle of an incriminating conversation, Lelouch had full confidence that they could switch topics mid-speech.

The door slid open, revealing the determined face of Murrue Ramius. Kira was standing beside her, rubbing his eyes groggily, obviously been just woken up from a long nap.

Lelouch put his tea cup down, surprised. Wasn't Ramius the captain of this ship now? What was she doing here, and not manning the ship? He racked his mind for possible scenarios, but none of them made sense. No experienced commander would… oh wait a minute.

"Lelouch's room?" Kira blinked in confusion, glancing around at the pot of tea, the closed laptop on the desk, and the chess board on the bottom right bed.

"Yes," Ramius nodded, her sharp eyes taking in the already personalized room, "Where is your butler?"

"Orenji is in the kitchen," Lelouch replied calmly, "getting food for us. Do not worry, whatever you have to say you can discuss it with me. Orenji will follow my instructions."

Ramius frowned doubtfully, but complied nonetheless, "I've gathered you two here for a reason. As you know, we will soon be attacked, and by what fighting force we don't know. The Zero is damaged, and Archangel's attack power is limited because we are inside a colony. Our only available forces are the Strike and the Victory, which nobody within our forces can pilot…"

"You're asking us to pilot?" Lelouch asked coolly, having just figured out the woman. She was no experienced captain, and a rookie with one battle under her belt at best. Added to that, she was a woman, and therefore more prone to sentimental values.

Nothing against woman of course—he was just stating a fact. One only had to look at Cornelia to earn some respect for the fairer sex. But anyway, all those points against Ramius pointed to the fact that she _would_ be the type to personally ask for assistance, even if she should have been preparing the ship in battle.

Ramius tensed, "Well, I can't force any of you to pilot, but…"

"But the ship will go down if we don't, right?" Kira demanded, his earlier sleepiness completely disappearing. The brown haired boy was obviously sharp as well as a Natural pilot. "That's so unfair, we didn't ask for this!"

"Yet this is what's been brought to you," Ramius answered sharply, then sighed, "look, if there were any other way, I would do that in an instant."

"But there isn't," Lelouch cut in, feeling his own disgust welling up inside him. Yes, this was the true face of the EA, forcing non-combatant civilians to clean up the military's mess. Lelouch felt his resolve harden; he would bring the organization to its knees, and cut off their head without mercy. "Or at least, you aren't willing to look for one."

Ramius's eyes flashed, "That's not how it is! If there were any other way, I'd definitely do it. Do you think I like asking for civilians' help?"

"Asking?" Lelouch questioned, "Or demanding?"

Ramius's shoulders slumped, "I can't force you."

"But you are!" Kira exclaimed, a look of rage on his face. Like Lelouch, he was probably seeing Ramius's attitude as a way to gain sympathy more than anything else. "You are forcing us! You basically tell us that the only chance this ship has of survival is if we pilot those things, so how could we not? If we want our friends to live, we have to! If you'd just let us go find a shelter…"

"But that's not how it is!" Ramius snapped, then quickly shook her head, "Ah, I'm stressed. I apologize. Please, think it over."

Without another word, she left, leaving the two of them alone.

Kira smashed to doorway, an expression of anguish on his features, "Damn it!"

"Be nice to the doorframe." They couldn't afford to have it damaged in any way, in case whatever Lelouch and Jeremiah said could be heard from the outside. "Besides, it must be hard on your hand too."

Kira pulled back his fist, giving Lelouch an apologetic look, "Oh, sorry. But it doesn't hurt me, not really. Aren't you like that too?"

"No." Lelouch picked up his tea again, frowning as he sipped it. It had turned cold. "I wouldn't really know, because I'm not a Coordinator."

"Wh-what?"

Heh, it was almost funny how surprised the pilot of the Strike was. "I don't really care about this type of thing, so I didn't mention it before, but even I can't dispute that there are some physical inequities. But then, maybe it's just you as well."

Hm… he thought back to that time seven years ago, in the palace garden, and what he had learned. He had really been a stupid kid back then, though he had done one thing right.

"So then you—but the way you piloted—"

"That was Orenji," Lelouch corrected, swirling the tea in his cup. He had no wish to drink it now, but perhaps when Jeremiah came back Lelouch could ask the knight to heat it up again. Honestly, it was really cruel what Lelouch was making Jeremiah do, but the knight was so earnest about volunteering that Lelouch had a hard time refusing him. Perhaps Jeremiah still wanted to atone…

"Oh," Kira sounded subdued, "then is Orenji going to pilot?"

"Probably, yes. He would do anything to protect me."

"Well then," Kira smiled bitterly, "I guess I can't do anything less, right?"

For the briefest moment, Lelouch hesitated, "Kira… you don't have to. I can… I can pilot, and I'm more prepared for it than you are."

"What? But you're a Natural."

"Didn't we just discuss how some Naturals can be outstanding, and Coordinators amazingly dumb? I'm what you call, a genius, and I have received some training for battle due to our family status."

Why was he telling Kira this? Lelouch couldn't figure it out. Maybe it was because of the image flashing in the back of his mind, one of another, similar brown haired boy, and another of the sister he had lost not a year ago. Nonetheless, in this moment he was willing to relieve Kira of his burden.

"Even so," Kira let out a breath of frustration, "Your physical abilities just aren't there. Your butler's told me about it. Piloting the Gundam's really a strain on your body."

"Gun-dam?"

"Yes," A light blush dusted Kira's cheeks, "I figured… well, **G**eneral **U**nilateral **N**euro-link **D**ispersive **A**utonomic **M**aneuver system, right? It sounds better than G-weapon."

Why did Lelouch get the feeling that this nickname was going to catch?

"Anyway," Kira coughed, "I can't let you—I mean it'd be even more unfair if I didn't and you had to—"

Stupid, idiotic, idealist. He was going to get killed in battle one day with those kinds of compassionate thoughts. So, why was Lelouch reminded of his favourite people?

Lelouch pressed his lips tightly together, not at all pleased, "Fine then, do what you wish. I will assist you to the best of my ability."

"Huh? What do you mean you'll—"

"**Lieutenant Ramius! Lieutenant Ramius come to the bridge at once!"**

Lelouch glanced up at the speakers overhead, "I guess that's our cue. It seems like we're finally under attack."

Kira tensed, his whole body going rigid with anxiety. Taking in a small breath, Kira turned and started walking away, towards the direction where the mobile suits were docked. Lelouch got up from his chair, running out into the hall, "Wait, Kira!"

Kira paused, turning back around and giving Lelouch a curious look.

Lelouch smiled wryly, "Remember, you aren't alone."

A brief smile flitted across Kira's face, and the pilot of the Strike gave one final nod before he left once again for his mobile suit. As the brown haired teen cleared the area, Lelouch allowed his smile to dissolve into a smirk; everything was going according to plan.

"My lord?"

Lelouch turned; standing behind him was Jeremiah Gottwald, carrying a tray of food.

"Perfect timing Orenji." Honestly, Lelouch didn't know how Jeremiah did it, but the knight was always there whenever Lelouch needed him. It was almost as if his knight had a sixth sense to Lelouch's needs or something... hm, maybe it was best not to think about it.

Jeremiah seemed to sense Lelouch's thoughts, as he always did. Jeremiah immediately stalked to the table, placing the tray down lightly before turning and facing Lelouch with a bow, "What do you request of me, my lord?"

"ZAFT's finally attacking," Lelouch smiled, walking back into his room and closing the door with a slight _click_, "And you will pilot the Victory. Keep a private channel for me; I shall give you instructions on how to proceed with battle should it be needed."

"And the other boy, my lord?"

"It's dependant on the situation. I would prefer not to reveal my abilities to him, but I am confident he can keep any secrets I do choose to indulge. Besides, shared secrets bring people closer together, do they not?"

"I do not know my lord, but I share many secrets with you, and I daresay we are very close."

"Then that's that." Lelouch nodded, satisfied, and opened his laptop, "You should report to the bridge."

"Of course, my lord."

Lelouch didn't need to turn his head to see the bow, or to hear the soft click of the door as it slid open and shut. Jeremiah was gone. He didn't have time to waste.

The computer screen flared open, and Lelouch started typing. Firewalls, passwords, encryptions... he needed to get past them all. The experience was a lot harder than hacking into the Gundam's systems, since Heliopolis actually had Coordinators to help them. Really, the Earth Alliance were idiots if they believed they could win against the genetically advanced.

Yes, there were those once in a lifetime geniuses like him, but that's exactly what they were—once in a lifetime. A handful of extremely mentally gifted people couldn't be expected to beat a civilization of mentally enhanced people. It was all a numbers game. Especially since, Lelouch liked to think that most of the mentally gifted resided in Britannia.

But that was neither here nor there. He had finally hacked into Heliopolis's operation system. Bingo.

Opening up another screen, Lelouch used the colony's cameras to track the movements outside the ship, so that he could know when the attack started. That, and to get a good feel of the landscape. It was perfect; it was just the type of environment that he thrived in.

Satisfied with what he had set up, Lelouch rolled his chair towards his bed, picking up the chess set from its place. Rolling back to his desk, he knocked down the pre-arranged patterns and started filling the board again with the pieces in different places now.

Two kings faced each other, one black and one white. For a moment, Lelouch couldn't decide who was who, but in the end he gave black to the Archangel. After all, the real one pulling the strings was the Black Prince of Britannia, not the EA. Surrounding the black king were only three pieces, but extremely powerful pieces nonetheless.

And then, it started.

The room rocked ever so slightly with the impact of an explosion, and Lelouch's cameras instantly went to find what was wrong. Five GINNs had come through the front, and two more mobile suits had entered Heliopolis through the west bank, no doubt intending to catch the Archangel unawares. Stupidly, the Archangel didn't recognize its nearer dangers, and sent out the Strike and the Victory towards the GINNs.

Well, it didn't matter he supposed. The Archangel's cannons could probably take care of the two mobile suits. Lelouch had to help Jeremiah. Three GINNs had gone to engage the knight, while the other two went to the Strike, and no matter how good Jeremiah was, even Lelouch knew that the knight would have a tad bit of discomfort fighting three against one. Especially in a new suit. Lelouch pressed a button, "Orenji, is this line secure?"

"Yes, your highness."

Oh, so it was _that_ secure, was it? Normally, Lelouch wouldn't take the chance, but he knew Jeremiah well enough to know that Jeremiah was even more cautious. He began typing once again, his mind running into pure calculation mode. "Do you see that large museum on your right, the one with the Aphrodite sign? Keep it in your mind, and head towards it when I give you the signal."

Without waiting for a reply, Lelouch closed the channel, and immediately opened another one. "Kira? Kira, respond!"

The Strike was fighting the two other GINNs, if fighting was the word. It was more like Strike was trying not to get killed, though it was an impressive bit of dodging. All the more impressive by the fact that this was a hugely complex machine Lelouch would have a hard time manoeuvring, and Kira was only getting on for the second time.

"Wh-what? Lelouch?"

"Don't vocally respond, just follow my instructions." Lelouch didn't want the Archangel picking up on the fact that he was commandeering the Gundam's counterattacks. It was only a slim chance that the Archangel's command quarters would hear everything that Kira said while in the Strike, but it was a chance Lelouch was unwilling to take. "Go directly downwards, 37 degrees!"

There was a moment's hesitation, but thankfully the Strike followed through. Lelouch licked his lips; his preparations hadn't been for nothing, then. A bleep on his screen warned him of another thing he had been waiting for, and Lelouch quickly switched the channel over to Jeremiah's, "Alright Jeremiah, go!"

Once again without waiting for a reply, Lelouch quickly changed his communications back to the Strike Gundam, now that the Strike was quickly falling towards the paved road. Any second now and- "Slash at the floor, then roll in the direction of the Archangel!

The Strike slashed. No sooner than the Gundam pulled its sword out and rolled away, a jet of water shot up from the area Kira had just occupied. The GINN that had been following him, burst from the force of the water, not having dodged out of the way in time.

Lelouch wasn't even looking at the cameras, "Jeremiah, allow the GINNs to nearly catch you, then veer to your right!"

The Victory banked just before it hit the building, shooting away. The GINN closely following it went flying as a train came out from around the corner of the building, blocked from view both by the Gundam's body and the institute itself.

Lelouch did love computer controlled trains.

But he didn't have time to dwell on it. The remaining GINN that was fixed on the Strike charged at Kira, obviously mad about the death of his comrade. Well, maybe Lelouch did have time to dwell after all. The one piloting the remaining GINN was an idiot. If one GINN had fallen so easily on ground, the obvious manoeuvre would to be avoid the lower levels.

Lelouch switched communications yet again, "Kira, to your left, run 50 meters."

Another button, "Jeremiah, follow these coordinates I'm sending you. It's a roofed alleyway, and you should be able to ambush the remaining two GINNs there. I'll-"

And then suddenly, a new mobile suit seemed to appear out of nowhere. A Gundam.

Lelouch frowned ever so slightly, and he instantly changed the channel to Kira's suit. He hadn't thought that ZAFT would send one of its newly obtained mobile suits to battle. It made more sense if they had sent all because they were completely done with extraction, three if they were only keeping one for information, or none at all. However, Lelouch had considered this possibility, no matter how slim, "Alright, change of plans. Go-"

He was suddenly flung forward as the Archangel staggered, but was able to keep his place by gripping the edge of the table. Static filled the channel, and the background noise of shifting within the Strike was cut off with a final, decisive _pop_. He could no longer communicate with Kira.

Lelouch narrowed his eyes, then shook his head. Well, it didn't really matter; he had confidence that Kira could hold his own against two mobile suits, even if the brown haired boy couldn't defeat them. Lelouch switched his attention fully to the Victory, and was pleased to see Jeremiah following his instructions. Rapidly, Lelouch started typing commands, telling Jeremiah where to wait for an ambush.

When he was done his last instructions, the black haired boy sat back, satisfied.

"Three GINNs down, Archangel in position, Victory flanking…" Lelouch twirled a rook between his fingertips, smirking. Lelouch placed the rook down as GINN #5 flew around the corner of the tall white building, Jeremiah slicing the machine open before the pilot even registered what happened. It was time.

"Heh, ZAFT's tactics are too old, if they can be considered tactics at all. Really, I should teach them a lesson. However…" Lelouch leaned forwards and flicked his fingers, knocking down a black castle, and leaving a subtle but distinct way open to the white king, "So much the better if they win, and blacken their own name."

* * *

Heliopolis was torn asunder.

Debris flew everywhere, the last remainder of the once beautiful colony. The air was filled with dust from crushed stone and buildings, hiding most of the destruction from any beholders. The Strike had taken out the main supports in trying to battle the ZAFT forces, and Heliopolis had not been able to withstand it.

Athrun floated within his Aegis, too shocked to do much else. How had it happened? He had joined the military to prevent situations like this, to stop disasters like this…

He'd been watching the GINNs they'd sent in being torn apart by the two G-weapons they'd failed to capture, despite that being nearly impossible because from the OS he had seen, the mobile suits shouldn't be operational by Natural soldiers. He'd begged Commander Le Creuset to let him out on the Aegis to see if he'd been right in his prediction regarding the pilot of the Strike, and he'd been proven right in the most disastrous manner.

Not only had the Strike and the Victory managed to destroy nearly all the GINNs ZAFT had sent down to Heliopolis, but some time during the course of his and Kira's fight, a shot that was never supposed to be made was fired. It ripped apart the structures that were holding the plant together, and now, Heliopolis would never be inhabitable again.

"Athrun! Athrun Zala! Report, Athrun Zala!"

The Gamow was contacting him, and he had to answer. Athrun pressed the talk button, "Athrun Zala, GAT-X303 Aegis reporting in."

The person on the other end of the line almost breathed a palpable sigh of relief, before their voice turned back into cold professionalism, "Do you have our coordinates?"

"Yes." He had always had them, he just wasn't sure if he wanted to return yet. But now, he had no choice, "I will be in shortly."

"Good, you have some explaining to do." A click, and then the voice was gone.

Going through the motions, Athrun drove his Aegis towards the mothership, trying hard not to think. If he started thinking, he'd start flashing back to Junius Seven, his mother, and the ruins they found. He'd start thinking about how Heliopolis now resembled those ruins, except now it wasn't the Earth Alliance's fault—it was theirs.

He wanted to blame the EA, he really did. After all, it was them who hid these G-weapons in a neutral nation, and forced ZAFT to take action! But… but there was the undeniable fact that it had been ZAFT that pulled the trigger this time, blew up the inner piece holding the neutral colony together. Athrun could still hear Kira's screams as the Strike was sucked through the hole in Heliopolis, taken against his will by the unforgiving space.

Kira.

Just what was Kira doing with the EA? Athrun felt his hands fist over his controls. Kira hated war, hated fighting, which was probably the whole reason Kira was in Heliopolis in the first place. There was no way Kira was fighting for the EA, especially not when Kira was a Coordinator himself!

But, there was again, undeniable proof in front of Athrun. No Natural could have defeated Miguel so easily, and Kira himself had confirmed that he was piloting the Strike. But why, why would Kira betray them? Kira was the kindest, most compassionate soul—

"Aegis, prepare for landing."

He had made it to Gamow, and hadn't even noticed. He had been too much in his thoughts. Athrun let out a breath as the Aegis docked within the Gamow, a wry smile spreading across his lips. Hadn't he resolved not to think?

They went through a familiar procedure, until finally, Athrun was ready to disengage from his mobile suit. The hatch hissed open, and Athrun climbed out. He looked down, expecting to see some ZAFT personnel there to reprimand him, but found none. Well, he supposed they were short on force right now. The proper thing to do of course, was to wait in his room.

Athrun sighed, hopping off the catwalk and walking sluggishly off to his room. He really, really didn't want to return there; Miguel wasn't there anymore, Rusty wasn't there anymore. But, he knew he had to follow military procedure, especially with his recent defiance.

He turned the corner, and was sent sprawling to the ground as his body crashed into anothers'.

It was only his fast reflexes that saved him. Just before he hit the floor, Athrun bent an elbow, pulling his hand inches in front of his face. Catching the weight of his body with one arm, he pushed, propping himself back up. He was not one of the top rookies of the academy for no reason.

The person he had bumped into though, was even better. She hadn't fallen at all.

CC blinked her large yellow eyes at him, her lips forming into a mocking smile. She held a slice of pizza in one hand, strings of cheese still connect it to her mouth, "Well, well, look what the cat brought in. Quite nimble boya, just like a little mouse."

He didn't like her. She unnerved him on a level he didn't quite understand, and he hated things he didn't understand. More to that, she was mocking, condescending, and hard to get along with. Even Nicol couldn't make friends with her, and he could make friends with everyone!

Still, he could ignore her just because he didn't like her. It was an unnecessary cruelty. Athrun nodded politely, "Good afternoon Miss CC."

"Such a darling boy," CC drawled, putting her pizza to her mouth again and taking another bite, "I bet your parents loved you."

His mother was dead. His father was never the same. Athrun wanted to punch her.

But, he could not. ZAFT needed her, just as it needed the cool and composed Athrun. Just as his parents needed the cool and composed Athrun. If he was emotional, he was compromised, and he did foolish things... much like what he did today.

He had went against orders, something he'd never done before. Though there was no direct order for him not to take the Aegis to confront the Strike, the command was implied enough from the last time Athrun had asked. And Athrun had ignored the warning.

Always, always Athrun had thought that ZAFT was the lesser of two evils, and though he hated violence, ZAFT would be the one who could end the war. That was why he was helping ZAFT. He also knew that higher authorities always had a reason for doing things, even if they didn't make sense to a foot soldier. Him being the son of Patrick Zala allowed him to hear a few things, after all.

But still, but still he couldn't figure out why Heliopolis was necessary. Couldn't they have gotten the Strike without the destruction of the colony?

He didn't know. And so, he did something he normally wouldn't have done. He asked for a second opinion.

"CC, what do you think of what we did to Heliopolis?"

CC blinked at him, then shrugged, "Well, they were harbouring military secrets, weren't they?"

Athrun thought back to Kira, "But was it fair to the civilians?"

CC tilled her head, yellow eyes aglow with something Athrun couldn't help but be wary of, "Hm... are you questioning the military, I wonder? The great son of ZAFT Head Patrick Zala... could it be that you don't believe in your father's ideals, hm?"

Ahtrun stiffened immediately, not liking CC's implications. It wasn't that he didn't believe in his father's ideals; after all, the Earth Alliance did need to be destroyed in order for peace to occur. But, how could he answer CC in a way that didn't make him seem like he was going to betray ZAFT?

He struggled with it for a while, but then decided on honesty. After all, CC would hardly care if Athrun Zala was at heart a soft plush cushion, "No, I believe in ZAFT, it's just that Heliopolis reminds me of... Junius Seven..."

CC looked towards the ceiling, her posture never changing, "Well, we evacuated the civilians, right?"

Of course they had, or else Athrun would have never agreed to it in the first place! But... but... the destruction... now millions of people had nowhere to go, no home to return to. And then of course there were those civilians that were caught up in the crossfire, who hadn't made it to a shelter in time. Athrun was well prepared for the grim reality of war, but was the complete destruction of a neutral colony absolutely necessary?!

"Calm down boya, you look like you're going to blow a fuse," CC's voice was amused, mocking even, but it brought Athrun back to reality. He took a deep breath, noticing the slight tenseness to his fingers. He looked down, surprised that he had clenched his fists. Was he really that out of it?

"As nice as it was seeing the usually composed Athrun Zala lose it," CC continued, taking another bite out of her pizza as if nothing had happened, "You have to realize that you'll go crazy if you continue the way you are."

Athrun took a deep breath, regaining his composure once again. That's right, it didn't matter what his personal feelings were; he had long decided that following ZAFT was the best for the world, and if that meant killing his own heart, he would do it. He bowed, "I apologise. I find myself in an odd mood today. It won't happen again."

CC looked at him with something akin to pity in her eyes, "That's not what I meant, boya. The way you've been living so far—"

"**Athrun Zala! Report to the main deck!"**

"I must leave," Athrun stated hurriedly, giving one departing salute as he turned and walked briskly away. He would come back to CC later, and ask her what she wanted to say. Now, he had to report to the command center. Old habits died hard, and Athrun had always been the perfect soldier. The captain came before anyone else, including himself.

He somehow felt the pair of yellow eyes boring into him, even long after he was gone.

* * *

He found Kira just standing there, in front of the Gundam with his head bowed and his body strung with tension. The brown haired boy was lightly shaking, the pain nearly palpable around him. They'd launched into space after that disastrous battle at Heliopolis, where the whole colony had been ripped to pieces. He'd recently brought back a broken civilian life boat, but it seemed as if the encounter had left him shaken rather than comforted.

Lelouch stepped into the open, and walked to the brown haired boy, taking a position beside him.

Kira turned his head, brown eyes unusually dull, "I may be able to pilot a mobile suit, but that doesn't mean I can fight a battle."

Lelouch carefully considered his response; this was obviously something Kira was unsure about, and Lelouch's answer could have long reaching consequences. Thankfully, Lelouch was somewhat able to think of what those consequences would be, and the best way to answer Kira. "No, of course not. Being able to fight in battles comes with experience and a certain mentality."

"You were lying, weren't you?" Kira asked dully, turning back to look at the gleaming Gundam, "You're no civilian. You were some commander, though not for the EA or ZAFT, or else you would have revealed yourself to them. Are you from Britannia?"

A lie would be unwise at the moment, though Lelouch was sure he could assure the absurdity of Kira if he so wished to do so. A surprised look, a flattered response, and then a well planned denial was all that was needed for him to convince Kira otherwise, yet... "Indeed, I am."

There was no point in denying it. Kira had yet to reveal his involvement in the battle of Heliopolis, and Lelouch very much doubted Kira would tell the others about this matter. Besides, Kira would know sooner or later, if he was ever to join Britannia, therefore it would be best to let him know now.

Yes, Lelouch had his reasons, and one of those reasons weren't the fact that Kira's clear gaze reflected that of Euphie's, it couldn't be. It would be too dangerous for Lelouch to allow sentimental feelings to cloud his judgement.

"But you're my age..." Kira closed his eyes, "Why? Why are you in the war?!"

Lelouch hesitated, "I... leave me my personal reasons. But mostly, I don't agree with either the EA or ZAFT. Britannia offers Naturals and Coordinators equality, identical chances and ample opportunity. Its whole culture promotes unity in a subtle way; the people in Britannia don't even know who's Natural or who's a Coordinator, and they don't care."

"So you enforce that on others?" Kira asked with clenched fists, "Don't get me wrong, I agree with Britannia's ideals, but... but how can war solve anything?!"

Ah, so he had caught that had he? Well, Lelouch had expected him to. "The people want war."

Kira's shocked silence was all Lelouch needed to confirm he could continue.

"The start of war, do you know how many casualties? Well, it may just seem like dreadful numbers to some, but to others it is the end of their lives. Mothers, sons, fiancés, have all been killed due to this war, and the people who bore the brunt of the sorrow was Britannia, whom wasn't involved. But a lot of Britannian citizens had family outside of our territory, and their family suffered for it."

Lelouch took a moment, drawing in a deep breath. He thought of Euphie, her bright smiles and cheery manner. "The people of Britannia demanded that the government do something about it, at the risk of civil war. And we can't afford civil war, not when we're setting an example to the EA and ZAFT that peace and coexistence can be attainable. And so Britannia turned its attention outwards, hoping to end this doomed war sooner."

Of course, that wasn't all the reasons, but that was all Kira needed to know. Britannia had also grabbed onto this war as an excuse to increase their lands, but somehow Lelouch got the feeling Kira wouldn't be too appreciative of that fact.

There was a long moment of silence, and then— "What about Orb? They're also neutral."

"And see how well that turned out," Lelouch said bitterly, looking up sharply to the Gundam in front of them.

Kira actually looked guilty for a moment. "I'm sorry, I—"

Overextended himself. Asked questions he had no right to ask a stranger. Then worse, made objections that he knew were meaningless.

"It's fine," Lelouch muttered, turning away. He took a few deep breaths, not all of them faked, and then turned back to the temporary Strike pilot. "Anyhow, the original reason I came here... how 'bout you get some rest and I'll maintain the Strike? We're going to be engaging in another battle soon by my estimations, and it'd be best if you get all the rest you need."

If possible, Kira looked even guiltier, "But you are also—"

"Not going to be doing as much this round," Lelouch said wearily, "it's open space, there's nothing for me to work with. So, I'm dependant on you and Orenji. I... I hate being helpless."

That was true, at least.

Kira took the hint. He no doubt thought Lelouch wanted to help with something, and maintaining Kira's Gundam was the only way. Kira hesitated, then nodded, shifting his body away from the railing and standing up straight to face Lelouch. "Fine, and... thank you."

Lelouch almost couldn't stand meeting Kira's sincere eyes; there was just an innocent quality about Kira that made him so hard to manipulate. But, Lelouch was trained for this, and it was always his cool logic that won out in the end. Lelouch reached out a hand, patting Kira's shoulder with a thin smile, "Thank _you_ for saving our lives. But remember if it ever becomes too much for you, I also can pilot."

Why was he telling Kira this, when it so broadly hinted at his plans? Ah yes... because he didn't want Kira to come back, not to all these Earth Alliance soldiers aboard the Archangel.

Kira shook his head, a wry but bitter smile on his face, "I can't force that on you."

"Just trying to tell you that you're not the only hope for this ship," Lelouch noted wisely, "there's me, Orenji, and that lieutenant too. Plus, the ship itself is a state of the art."

Which reminded him, he should take some data on it. Although the Avalon looked much more fearsome and developed, Lelouch was sure that the Archangel had to have some area of development that was more enhanced than his older brother's ship. It was up to Lelouch to find what that was.

"Thanks," Kira smiled, gratefully this time rather than bitter, "really, thank you."

Lelouch turned away. He didn't think he could deal with Kira's appreciation, not with what he was planning to do. Yes, it may help Kira in the end, but there was no doubt in Lelouch's mind that it would also cause Kira a lot of grief. If Kira knew what the black haired prince was planning, he very much doubted Kira would forgive him for it.

Well, he supposed it didn't matter, in the end. Kira was unlikely to join ZAFT in any case. "You'd best be going. Get plenty of rest."

He practically heard the nod, and then the fading footsteps signalled Kira's departure, leaving Lelouch alone with the Strike Gundam. Good. Lelouch cranked him head upwards, judging the height of the cockpit, and clambered into it. There was no one around to see his undignified scramble, so he didn't have to be cautious about it. He was under no illusion that he was physically apt.

As soon as he got into the cockpit he closed the hatch and started typing. It would do no good for someone to see what he was doing. Commands, back up files, hidden software... yes, that was where he wanted to go.

When he had been in the Gundam's cockpit before, he had managed to download all the data, but he hadn't had time to do much else. Now that he was granted more time, he could finally put into action the plan he had been conceiving ever since the appearance of the Archangel.

ZAFT looked to be finished with extracting the data from their Gundams, and while that was annoying it also put Britannia at a distinct disadvantage. Knowing Clovis, he had probably funded projects that he had not demanded the plans for, and there was no way for Lelouch to get the data on the other five Gundams now. Plus, if ZAFT somehow did manage to win and gain the Archangel's two Gundams, the people of Earth were doomed. Unless...

Lelouch typed in a viral sequence, burying it so deeply within the OS that even Kira would have a hard time detecting it. The virus was designed to obliterate the entire OS if hacked into, then self-destruct the Gundam. Obviously, it had a sixteen character codeword that Lelouch could type in to avoid such a measure, but that meant that only Lelouch could disarm it.

If Britannia ended up with the Strike after all, then all was good. If anyone else got their hands on it... then Britannia's situation would turn no worse. It was somewhat of a win-win situation, though Lelouch wouldn't consider something as small as this a win. More like a precaution, really. Let it never be said that Lelouch Vi Britannia wasn't thorough.

After successfully making the virus and covering up his tracks, Lelouch actually did move onto some maintenance. After all, he had to look like he had been doing some actual work. If not, what else could he have been doing?

He had to admit that what Kira had done to the OS was impressive. It was as good the work that he'd done with Jeremiah's machine, and Lelouch had training for this type of thing. And of course, the fact that Kira had done the reprogramming in the midst of battle just made him all the more desirable to the Britannian military.

When he was finally done, Lelouch hopped out of the cockpit, landing a bit awkwardly but not feeling particularly embarrassed about it. To each their own strengths. As it was, he was feeling hot and sweaty from being stuck in that cockpit for so long, and he longed for a shower. An odd sound brought him out of his fantasies.

Lelouch blinked, turning towards the source of the noise to see Kira standing with... with a green _thing_ on his shoulder. He was in the shadow of the Gundam, and Lelouch couldn't distinguish his expressions clearly. Lelouch smiled tightly, "Why aren't you sleeping?"

"It's been a few hours," Kira replied, "I'm pretty well rested. You should... you should take a break."

"Just going to," Lelouch gestured to his surroundings, indicating that he was not in the Gundam. "Actually, I'm done with maintenance. Just adjust the OS slightly to your style and you should be able to go back to sleep within half an hour."

"Really?" Kira sounded stunned, "well that was fast. You weren't kidding when you said you were gifted."

Lelouch smiled wryly, "Why don't you check it out for yourself before making judgement?"

"Will do then," Kira smiled, stepping out of the shadows and revealing the green feathered bird preening itself on his right shoulder, "by the way, have you met Tori?"

Lelouch froze. It was... it was... He took a step back, a false smile on his face, "It's fine Kira, I don't need to... ah, 'meet' your pet bird."

"What?" For a moment Kira looked startled, and then his grin turned wicked, "Scared of birds?"

No! It wasn't that... it was... he just... he had a bad experience with them when he was seven. Who knew geese could be so vicious when you stopped feeding them!

Kira seemed to be able to tell what Lelouch was thinking from his expression, "Aw fine, fine, if you're _really_ so scared of birds—" He ignored Lelouch's protested 'I'm not!' "—then I'll tell you a secret. Tori's not a real bird."

...right, of course. He knew that. If he examined this 'Tori' closely, Lelouch could easily see the bolts holding the pieces together. Besides, nothing besides metal would gleam like that under indoor lights. Nevertheless... "Don't let him near me. I don't care if he's a machine."

Tori chirped indignantly, hopping off of Kira's arm and launching himself toward Lelouch. Lelouch wouldn't quite say he shrieked, but even he couldn't deny that what came out of his throat wasn't a manly yell.

Kira doubled over in laughter, but it turned to a yelp of surprise as Lelouch tripped on the railing trying to get away from the damned bird, and fell backwards over the railing. Kira _moved_, grasping onto Lelouch hand just before the prince flipped clean over the edge, and then _pulled_. Lelouch was hurled forwards, his dignity completely done as he staggered a few steps before collapsing on his knees.

"Birdy! Birdy!"

He felt a weight settled on the top of his head, and he didn't have to look up to know what it was.

For a moment, Kira had actually looked like he was going to ask if Lelouch was okay, but then he just started laughing again. Lelouch glared at the brown haired boy; alright, change of plans. Kira was going to _die_.

But there was no real heat behind those words.

* * *

"GAT X106 Victory, Orenji Nu, Launching," Jeremiah intoned in his usual grave voice, pushing the throttle of his new mobile suit. They had no real break before ZAFT had attacked again, sending them once again into a state of emergency. The orange machine shot out of the launching pad, thrusters alighting with fire.

He was not quite used to it yet, and he'd never fought in space before, but with Master Lelouch's rewritten OS, piloting the thing was not extremely hard. Besides, Jeremiah was proud to be even on in the cockpit of the Victory; it was a state of the art weapon, and the newest technology.

Truly, a lowly knight like him should not have been the first to use such a weapon, but the Knights of the Rounds were not here, and it was left to Jeremiah to display the full superiority of the Britannians. He would not let his lord down; he had to show the world that Master Lelouch was fearsome and could not be underestimated.

Out of the corner of his eye, Jeremiah noticed a red mobile suit flying to engage Kira, but just when Jeremiah made a move to help the boy, another black mobile suit intercepted. Jeremiah's computer locked onto the new suit, a name popping up beside the black and gold image. GAT X207 Glory.

Tch, did they think that one mobile suit was enough to stop Jeremiah? The Knight of the Black Prince?

Jeremiah hefted his rifle, and shot.

The Glory dodged beautifully, spinning out of the way of the orange beam. Without giving it any time to recuperate, Jeremiah slung the rifle back into its holster and took out his two beam sabres. He attacked.

The Glory just barely dodged, finally taking out its own beam sabres and hacking them towards Jeremiah. There was a flash of sparks as the energy beams met, and Jeremiah was forced back due to the blacklash. Thankfully, the Glory was forced to as well, though not as much.

"Hey Jeremiah," a voice filtered through the intercom, sounding contemplative, "can you talk and fight at the same time? You don't have to win, just look like you're busy."

Jeremiah nodded, avoiding a slice as the Glory rushed at him again. And then he realized that Master Lelouch couldn't see that. "Yes, don't worry. The one piloting this is a—"

"A newbie," Lelouch interrupted, "I know. All of them are. It makes some sense. After all, ZAFT didn't know how effective these Earth Alliance machines would be, and they didn't want to use veterans in a mission that could turn out worthless. Still, you'd think that they'd have at least one pilot who's not fresh out of school."

"Are the others...?"

"Yes, they're all inexperienced. There were about a dozen times ZAFT's new mobile suits could have taken advantage of the Archangel, but they either didn't catch it or were too slow to react. Unfortunately, this—" Suddenly, Lelouch stopped talking.

Jeremiah could not ask what was wrong, for at the moment he had to skilfully manoeuvring between a sickle that the Glory had thrown, and a shot from a beam rifle. It took nearly all his concentration. Just as Jeremiah had flipped up and was ready to fire, Lelouch's voice broke out yet again—

"Unfortunately, this Lieutenant Ramius is the same. She could have destroyed the three mobile suits besieging the Archangel easily."

Jeremiah felt his mouth drop open, even as he opened fire on the black mobile suit, "My Lord, how did you—?"

"How did I know when I needed to stop chatting?" The prince chuckled, "I installed a link to your viewscreen that directs whatever you see, to my laptop. As of now, I know what's happening to you, the Archangel, and Kira. It's unfortunate I don't have Mu La Flaga's Zero unit; I'll have to somehow convince him to let me have a look at it after this battle's done."

Jeremiah shook his head in admiration. Only Lelouch Vi Britannia. "And how is Kira?"

For a moment, Lelouch seemed to hesitate, "He's... he knows the person he's supposed to be fighting with. I think it'd be kinder if we—"

Suddenly Lelouch stopped talking, but Jeremiah was not in trouble this time. "...My Lord?"

"Alright," The prince's voice sounded slightly tense, "Kira's run into a bit of trouble, and he's panicking. Buster is heading towards you. Do you have a good understanding of your enemy's capabilities?"

"Yes, my Lord."

"Excellent. Then... Phase II, commence."

Jeremiah nodded, and started Lelouch's plan, part two. Suddenly, the Victory increased its agility, sliding between the Glory's attacks. The Glory paused for a moment, clearly surprised. It was going to be the ZAFT pilot's final mistake.

With a fierce grin, Jeremiah flew past the enemy mobile suit's cockpit, slicing his beam sabre. Sparks flew, and metal sparked, as a large chunk of the enemy's machine was cut off. The Glory twisted out of the way at the last second, barely saving its cockpit. Jeremiah turned his mobile suit around, scrutinizing the black mobile suit with a critical eye.

A large chunk of the Glory was gone, but not any part that would stop it from fighting. The cockpit was still whole and intact, perfectly fine. The Glory's pilot had just managed to save himself, and the Glory.

A smile started to spread across Jeremiah's lips, and it was just then that he felt a beam shoot towards him. Eyes narrowing, Jeremiah flew out of the way, twisting the Victory just so that it capture the image of the Buster on its screen. So... help had arrived.

Jeremiah glanced towards his power levels. Half gone.

He had purposely not used energy consuming weapons if he could have avoided it, under Master Lelouch's commands. That was one of the reasons it was so hard to fight the Glory. After the one shot with the beam rifle to stifle any suspicions, Jeremiah had purposefully stuck to weapons that maintained their own power. However, the Glory (and so therefore, the Buster too) had no such inhibitions. So, if Jeremiah's energy levels were about half gone, theirs would be almost empty...

"Jeremiah, now!"

Jeremiah flew out of the way of Buster's rifle fire, right into Glory's grasp! Jeremiah hadn't even bothered to look at the Glory when the Buster came, and now he was regretting it. The Glory had locked onto Jeremiah's mobile suit somehow, though Jeremiah didn't know how. No matter how Jeremiha struggled, he could not make his mobile suit move anymore.

The Buster readied its huge cannons, gathering power, obviously meaning to take out Jeremiah in one shot.

"A special ability?" Lelouch muttered, his voice coming softly across the intercom, "What is it? Suction cups perhaps? Amazing... I didn't think..."

Just then, a military jet seemed to burst out of nowhere, firing rapidly at something behind Jeremiah. Jeremiah felt relief in his mobile suit; it could move again!

He flew up, dodging the large beam from the Buster, and flew towards it with vigour. As the Buster got ready to engage, Jeremiah suddenly changed directions, taking out his beam rifle and firing a lone shot toward the Glory. The Glory didn't expect it, and its manoeuvrability had already been severely damaged by Jeremiah's slice from earlier. It was hit, and suddenly it couldn't move anymore.

The Buster froze for a second, then flew towards it angrily, but La Flaga's zero had already intercepted and forced the Buster back. With one last attempt to get to the Glory, the Buster flew away, back to its mothership. The two suits belonging to the Archangel relaxed.

"Orenji?" La Flaga's worried voice came across the alliance link, "Are you alright?"

"Fine," Jeremiah replied, "Thanks for the save."

"No problem, it's our fault for dragging you guys into this anyway..." There was a sigh.

"What's the matter?" Jeremiah asked, but couldn't put much genuinely into it. Normally, he cared very much about his comrades, and always wanted to hear their troubles so he could share their pain and drown their sorrows together, but this time... this time he knew what caused the sigh, and wouldn't he feel fake if he tried to sound friendly?

Jeremiah pushed down the feeling of guilt, the feeling of comradeship formed from battle. He was serving his lord, a worthy goal for any Britannian. Besides, Mu La Flaga was an enemy, and he could not afford to get attached to enemies.

"It's just..." La Flaga's voice brought him out of his thoughts, "Kira's been captured."

* * *

A/n: Bad fight scene, I know, but please bear with it. If anyone's confused on why Kira's captured, it'll be explained next chapter. Main points are however; Kira is originally saved by Mu La Flaga at the last moment, but this time Mu sees Jeremiah in greater danger (going to be killed vs. going to be captured) therefore Mu prioritized saving Jeremiah. In this time, Athrun is able to bring Kira back to the ZAFT ship.

FYI, in a real world situation I don't think CC would have green hair (it's a visual cue so the audience can distinguish between characters), but let's just say green hair is somewhat common in the anime world, so having green/purple/orange hair is not very revealing.

Also, I stink with technology/weaponry, so if I'm wrong on any accounts about the Gundams, feel free to correct me. I'll fix it as soon as possible.

And some people have pointed out that Lelouch is a bit different than he was in cannon. If you think that, it's because he is. He knows his family loves him here, so he grew up quite nicely. I hope that he's still essentially Lelouch, but he's not consumed with hate/vengeance (it's only an _aspect_ of him now rather than his core) and that makes all the difference. And for those who are wondering, yes, Geass sadly doesn't exist in this world. CC is strange and holds shocking secrets, but it isn't because of a magical power.


End file.
